The present invention relates to a mechanical support for hand-held dental/medical instruments and, more specifically, to such a mechanical support which provides six degrees of freedom of motion while permitting the use of position transducers to indicate the position of the instrument.
A variety of different mechanical supports for dental implements are known in the art. Mechanical supports for dental instruments are designed to hold a variety of different, interchangeable instruments. These supports are also designed to permit the operator to have some degree of freedom of movement and further to help minimize the fatigue associated with operating the instruments. This is of particular importance since dentists spend long periods of time working with these dental instruments.
The use of position transducers with dental implements is known in the art. These position transducers produce signals which indicate the position of an associated dental instrument. An example of the use of a position transducer with a dental implement is set forth in my issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,312, which discloses a dental probe, capable of providing the user with three dimensional positional information.
The prior art dental probe with its associated positional encoders requires that the dental implement be attached mechanically to a patient's jaw. Although this allows obtaining positional information, it is uncomfortable for the patient and makes it impossible for the dentist to lay down the probe and to easily operate the same.
Although the use of positional encoders to indicate position is desirable, it must be borne in mind that since the dentist uses the instrument for long periods of time the positional encoders must be arranged in a manner that does not unduly increase the weight and stress borne by the dentist's arm and hands.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanical support for supporting hand-held dental and medical instruments which is usable with positional encoders.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a mechanical support which allows the use of positional encoders without the need of mechanically connecting the dental instrument to the patient's jaw.
Still a further object to the present invention is to provide such a mechanical support which is relatively light and which does not unduly stress the operator's hand and arm.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide such a mechanical support which gives the dentist freedom of motion in all three translational and all three rotary directions.
A further objective is to provide an apparatus and technique which permits the dentist to operate to obtain results independent of the movement of the patient's head so that the patient's head can move at any time in the procedure.
A related objective is to provide such an apparatus and technique as will permit the dentist to be able to put down the probe during the course of the procedure for any purpose. For example changing the operating point, and return to the patient and continue with the procedure even though the patient's head has moved and the probe has been put down and worked on.
A further related purpose of this invention is to simultaneously provide information concerning the motion of the patient's jaw.